Oct

22

Hey, the Fort Dix terrorism trial has begun, and today jurors viewed some alleged terrorist training video. (On cross-examination, the defense was able to get an FBI agent to admit the video also contained “scenes of the defendants riding horseback in the Poconos.”)

But whatever. Terrorism trial? Pfft, it’s the U.S. government, they’ll find a way to screw it up. (That’s when I’ll start to pay attention.) More importantly, check out what the jurors were wearing!

Thirteen of the 18 jurors and alternates wore shirts, sweaters or sweatshirts sporting the Philadelphia Phillies logo. The attorneys, judge and spectators laughed.

I’ll just quote Rob from Walkoff Walk here: “Best of all, the Phillie Phanatic was the jury foreman.” Of course, right? The Phanatic gets all big and moves to Jersey.

Update: The paragraph Rob quoted has been deleted from The Star-Ledger’s website. It’s not like it could help anyone identify the jury: Everyone has Phillies gear on everywhere right now.

Sep

9

i was a juror in this case , and the whole case struck at my heart. Two lives lost over a dirt bike. crazy. Whats the world coming too? half the witness were between the ages of 13-15 when this crime took place. crazy….it was a open and shut case……

Yes, this juror rushed home to post about the verdict on Philly.com (or was an alternate, or is fake). But I do believe people who comment on the Internet are the same ones who serve on juries.

Sep

9

Oh, it’s a pain, but going to jury duty is sure a way to feel just like one of the founding fathers, if they were too dumb to get off jury duty. And it’s your civic duty! Let’s see what’s in store for jurors on one case in Delco:

“What he did to those children - those infants - is every parents worst nightmare,” said Michelle T. Rotella, lead prosecutor with the the U. S. Attorney’s Office, during opening statements. She called the photos graphic, repulsive, and shocking. “They are images you will never forget.”

When the 12 jurors and four alternates, whittled down from a pool of 250, had their first look at the photos, they appeared visibly shaken. Some looked away quickly, others pursed their lips and shook their heads.

Well, I mean, it’s not like it’ll damage them for life or anything, right? Attorney Mark Cedrone, what do you think?

“Your lives will be forever altered as a result of your jury service,” Cedrone said.

Yeah, I think I have a hardship that prevents me from doing jury service that will forever alter my life.

Oct

12

Michael Nutter sent a press release out yesterday that proclaimed this across the land that he is the mayoral candidate who can not get out of jury duty. Not just that, he actually was picked for a trial yesterday.

The release says that Nutter served as a juror 16 years ago on a trial that lasted two weeks. Of jury duty, Nutter says, “Everyone should experience this at least once.” This means he wasn’t a juror on a trial that was like mine. (Legal malpractice stemming from a medical malpractice case. Need I say more?)

Nevertheless, kudos to Nutter for not fudging things to get out of jury duty, I guess, and kudos to his PR team for amusing everyone with this press release. Nutter reports for his trial at 9 a.m. tomorrow. So if you want to catch a glimpse of this celebrity, head down to the Criminal Justice Center!

Mar

1

One of my old neighbors said that any time he got jury duty, he just said, “I’m an ex-cop” — true — “and I’m really racist” — unsure. While I didn’t say that yesterday, I did tell the judge about my important celebrity status of “blogger,” and then I spent about a two minutes trying to explain just what it is I do here.

And, really, I have no idea. But apparently that was enough to get me excused! I’ll be here the rest of the week. Posting today may be a little sporadic as I try to catch up to PW work, so if you’re bored and need to waste time at work, you can dig through the archives or check out today’s issue of PW.

Feb

28

I got a fistful of beads and I’m getting ready to toss them to girls in hopes of seeing some skin. Maybe I’ll even get a cute judge and start and uproar in the court room!

Yep, today I’ll be celebrating Fat Tuesday by doing my civic duty — spending a full day reading books while I complain about doing my civic duty. Yep, I have Jury Duty, and hopefully it’ll just be a one-day thing, since I have a story due tomorrow.

Either way, there will be no blogging until this whole thing is done. Enjoy your day. I’m sure it will be better than mine. As long as I don’t get held in contempt for tossing aforementioned beads around, I should be back tomorrow to celebrate to start of Lent with youse.